Bill Maher Marks 9/11 Anniversary With New Rule On Gaza And Western Values
The segment revisits a post-9/11 ideological divide through the lens of the current Gaza conflict.
Bill Maher used a New Rule segment on REAL TIME WITH Bill Maher, titled "Clash of Civilizations," to mark the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks by revisiting the long-running tension between radical Islamism and Western liberalism. Maher argued that this ideological divide has not disappeared in the years since 2001, and that nowhere has the resulting moral confusion become more apparent than in the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
The segment fits into Maher's regular New Rule format on the HBO program, where he frequently uses topical bits to work through current events and international affairs. Maher has recently applied the same segment style to subjects ranging from workplace romance to the balance of power in Washington, using the format to stake out pointed positions on contested topics.
In this installment, Maher framed Gaza as the clearest present-day flashpoint for the civilizational tensions he says have persisted since the attacks a quarter-century ago, tying the anniversary directly to an active geopolitical crisis rather than treating it purely as retrospective commemoration.
Maher's New Rule segments typically run at the midpoint of the broadcast, giving him room to build an argument before the show moves into panel discussion. This installment continued that structure, using the anniversary as a hook to make a broader argument about where Western liberal values currently stand in relation to Gaza.
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